Ethan Gilsdorf ran a TEDx Talk where he explores why Dungeons & Dragons is good for you in your real life. It’s an interesting watch and certainly chimes well with plenty of the things I’ve felt when playing RPGs with friends…

Over the past year or so the growth of role-playing games has meant that to a degree it’s become a lot more acceptable among a wider audience. I’ve played games with plenty of people who have never given it a go and it’s always been a good experience.

I’d certainly give this one a watch because it picks up on some great social qualities behind RPGs. And they say we have no skills with people!

What are your thoughts on the positives of D&D?

"I'd certainly give this one a watch because it picks up on some great social qualities behind RPGs. And they say we have no skills with people!"

It’s interesting how things have come round 360 degrees since the 1980s:

1986: “People playing RPGs will bring that stuff into real life – they’ll become violent killers and think they can do magic.” 2016: “People playing RPGs will bring that stuff into real life – they’ll learn team building, problem solving and diplomacy.”

What we don’t seem to have been able to get away from in 30 years is that roleplaying is D&D and D&D is roleplaying. I know for a talk like this a specific example was necessary, but it does seem like we still say D&D when we mean roleplaying, without acknowledging in the right places to the wider audience that there are other games.